Oxbow Academy Honors Kara Adams
Medical coordinator Kara Adams always finds a reason to laugh at life. Even when something bad happens, such as when her car breaks down, Kara tries to find the adventure in adversity. Kara’s sunny disposition is one of the many assets that she brings to Oxbow Academy.
Oxbow Academy helps troubled teens with sexual addictions to recover and live productive and happy lives. After more than two decades of helping young people overcome sexual addiction, we know that our program is only as good as the people who are a part of it. Oxbow Academy is grateful to have Kara working with us, and recognizes Kara for her excellent work and positive attitude.
Kara’s motto is, “I come to work because your life is worth my time.”
Kara’s job is to help the young men at Oxbow stay healthy. Her medical assisting certificate and many years working in doctors’ offices, urgent care facilities, and as an EMT, have given Kara a wealth of experience in the medical field. In addition to her medical experience, Kara was employed as a middle school music teacher.
“This job kind of combined my two favorite things in life which are working with youth and the medical field,” said Kara.
At Oxbow Academy, Kara prepares and monitors the students’ medications and tends to any injuries that students might have. When Kara helps the students, she gives them the same consideration that she would give to her own children.
Kara appreciates working at Oxbow Academy because of the support that she receives from her co-workers. She also is grateful for the support that she is able to give to the students because it leaves her with a feeling of purpose.
“The people that I work with are so fantastic, and just coming to work and knowing I have a support system to get done what I need to do is just awesome,” said Kara. “But the other thing is just knowing I am making a little bit of difference… I want to be the person who the boys say, ‘I knew she always believed in me.’”
Kara’s message to parents is, “It is never too soon to never give up.”
Kara’s positive, upbeat attitude helps her to find meaning in her work. She goes out of her way to support the young men in the program.
“I tell the boys that I am going to believe in them until they can believe in themselves. It was rewarding to me to see a change in this specific boy who was ready to throw in the towel,” said Kara. “I looked him in the eye, and I [told him that I believed in him]. I could kind of see hope come back. Just that little glimmer of hope made my day.”
Kara has helped many young men to find hope in their situation. Working for Oxbow Academy, she has seen students transform their lives. She is grateful to work at Oxbow Academy so that she can be a part of the positive changes the young men make in their lives.